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Sheley trial opening statements scheduled

Posted September 09, 2011 12:00 am

Associated Press

GALESBURG — Opening statements are scheduled in the first trial of an Illinois man charged with murdering eight people in 2008.

Attorneys are scheduled to begin Friday at the Knox County Courthouse in the trial of 32-year-old Nicholas Sheley of Sterling.

Sheley has pleaded not guilty in the June 2008 bludgeoning of 65-year-old Galesburg retiree Ronald Randall. Sheley has pleaded not guilty in seven other deaths that month in Illinois and Missouri. Those trials will take place later.

Almost nine full days were devoted to selecting a jury from about 90 potential jurors.

Circuit Judge James Stewart on Thursday rejected a defense request to move the trial. Defense lawyer Jeremy Karlin has argued that Sheley has gotten too much local publicity for him to be tried fairly in Galesburg.

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